Necromancer
''For background information, see Priests of Rathma. From the steamy recesses of the southern swamps comes a figure cloaked in mystery. The Necromancer, as his name implies, is an unseemly form of Sorcerer whose spells deal with the raising of the dead and the summoning and control of various creatures for his purposes. Though his goals are often aligned with those of the forces of Light, some do not think that these ends can justify his foul means. Long hours of study in dank mausolea have made his skin pale and corpse-like, and his figure is skeletal. Most people shun him for his peculiar looks and ways, but none doubt the power of the Necromancer, for it is the stuff of nightmares. They are Priests of the cult of Rathma that hail from the far Eastern jungle. They live in a vast underground city in these jungles where they can pursue their arcane magic. Through the teaching of Rathma and years of research, they understand and hold sacred the delicate balance of life and death and protect it with their life. Necromancers have the ability to reanimate corpses of most entities and to control the recently dead. The dead release spiritual energies that haunt the mortal realms. The Necromancer can focus these energies, giving them manifestation in the corporal world. Practitioners of necromancy can curse the very fate of a victim by manipulating the Prime energies flowing through all living things. Skills There are three skill sets the Necromancer can develop as he moves forward in the Diablo II Universe. Summoning Spells *Raise Skeleton *Skeleton Mastery *Clay Golem *Golem Mastery *Raise Skeletal Mage *Blood Golem *Summon Resist *Iron Golem *Fire Golem *Revive Poison & Bone *Teeth *Bone Armor *Poison Dagger *Corpse Explosion *Bone Wall *Poison Explosion *Bone Spear *Bone Prison *Poison Nova *Bone Spirit Curses *Amplify Damage *Dim Vision *Weaken *Iron Maiden *Terror *Confuse *Life Tap *Attract *Decrepify *Lower Resist Attributes Starting Attributes: Strength: 15 Dexterity: 25 Vitality: 15 Energy: 25 Hit Points: 45 Stamina: 79 Mana: 25 Level Up: Life +1.5 Stamina +1 Mana +2 Attribute Point Effect: 1 Vitality point gives 2 Life 1 Vitality point gives 1 Stamina 1 Energy point gives 2 Mana Builds Summonmancer The Summonmancer Necromancer was quite effective thanks to the synergies added in the latest patch. Prior to this patch, maxed out skeletons were weak. Summonmancer frequently relied on revive monster skill because the monster's life scaled with the amount of players in the map. If there were eight players, the summoned monster's life would be eight times greater. On the newest patch, skeletons and skeleton mages became much more effective. With an Act II mercenary giving an aura, the skeleton army became quite powerful. It was even able to last in Hell mode in Act V. These type of necromancer typically do not engage in combat, so the strength attribute is only raised to wear armor. The Summonmancer had certain complimentary skills. After the point where this builds mana seems sufficient, all points are spent on vitality usually. Even though the iron maiden curse might seem good for this build, it won't make his minions last long. In Hell mode Act V, the minions die from enemies, so a curse that keeps the minions alive is needed. Decrepify is a great curse for a summoning necromancer because it reduces the enemies' damage output. One point in bone armor is advised because it prevents against the one-hit kill. If an enemy damages you in melee for 400 life while you are wearing bone armor, the bone armor will disappear but no life will be taken away from your character. The Summonmancer is a great tank. If the Summonmancer has maxed out skeleton skills, and the proper plus-skill equipment, they can have up to thirteen skeleton warriors and thirteen skeleton mages. This vast number of minions acts as a tank, absorbing the damage. Since there are so many minions, it is easy for companion players to avoid getting hurt. A draw-back in online play of a Summonmancer is the lag, giving it the alt name of Lagromancer because of the amount of minions on screen forces all computers synchronized to slow down to the speed of the slowest comp. Balanced The necromancer can reach its full strength if you put points into the various spells such as revive, bone spear, and amplify damage are great combinations to work with, this build allows the player to have the ability of all the builds. The Balancednecro is very weak at the beginning but at later levels it is a very strong build, with about 15 minions, bone spear, and amplify damage it becomes a powerful force. The minions will take all the damage, bone spear will go through multible targets, and amplify damage gives skeletons 2 times normal damage. Another effective balanced that I personally use as of v1.12 (Not LoD) is max out Raise Skeleton and Skeleton Mastery in the Summoner section. In the curse section I like to put 5 points in Amplify Damage (with the extra skill points you have at the end feel free to put more points in this). Finally in the Poison and bone section I max Bone Spear and Bone Spirt. Those two are very effective as well as the fact you can have you Skeleton army! I also really like this build cause you can solo with it as well normally with a normal summoner build you barely do enough damage to get a corpse making it essentially to group but not with this build. :D Try it! Like stated above a little weak until 30! Suggested other skill worth putting points in: Corpse Explosion, (erm still working on it been busy :D) Bonemancer Another popular build for the Necromancer is the Bonemancer. This normally involves dumping most of the skill points gained into bone spells, with limited summon capability. Bonemancers will find many elements of play difficult, as they are an abnormal form of a caster. Although there is an distinct advantage to having non-elemental magic damage, however the spells take quite a while to gain potency when soloing. Poisonmancer This build typically uses the attack Poison Nova, an Area of Effect (AoE) spell causing great amounts of poison damage to targets all around its caster. The Necromancers using this build would usually also use skeletons and other summons to add extra damage, as Poison Nova usually won't completely kill the enemy. It is a powerful class but with a few exceptions. Mercenary Suggestion The Summonmancer's best friend is an Act 1 mercenary with "Aura gear." Having a Faith bow along with a Bramble armor is quite sufficient when it comes to playing with a Summonmancer. Iron Maiden will not affect an Act 1 mercenary, thus not killing them when they hit enemies. That means no more wasting money reviving the mercenary. You also get two great and helpful auras. Thorns and Fanaticism are a great combo. Thorns reflect damage that your skeletons are taking and Fanaticism will quicken their strike speed. For more frugal players, many Summonmancer's choose act II mercenaries with Might, easily adding damage. As for the Bonemancer, Act II mercenaries often provide the punch they need. Act III casters also provide great area distraction.